His Every Move (7 page)

“Ma’am? Are you there?”

She sputtered. “Oh. Sorry. Yes, let him through. Thank you.”

“Certainly.” The security guard hung up and Kallie ran to the bathroom to check herself in the mirror.

Then she went outside to wait for him.

Luckily, Riley had gone down for a nap again, so at least she’d be able to focus on Hunter and not worry about the baby on top of everything else.

A few minutes later, Hunter pulled up on his motorcycle. Just seeing him again nearly knocked her off her feet. She’d forgotten how powerfully attracted she was to him.

Hunter removed his helmet and rested it on the seat of his bike, then walked over to where Kallie waited.

He ran a hand through his hair as he approached—his hair was sexily tousled, as if he’d planned it to be that way. “Kallie,” he said, his dark eyes instantly sending shockwaves through her.

She folded her arms, as if to physically protect herself from her emotions. “What are you doing here?”

He stopped, not coming any closer. But he was close enough that she could easily imagine what it would be like to touch him again—to be kissed by him once more. “I needed to see you,” he said.

“Why?”

He looked deeply wounded by her cold attitude. “You know why.”

She shook her head. “I thought I made myself very clear to you, Hunter. I can’t be involved with you anymore.”

Now he did take a step towards her. “I’ve thought a lot about everything you said, and I know you’re right. I owe you an explanation about Scarlett.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does,” he said, his voice becoming more forceful. “She told me what you did for her—how you stood up to Terrence.”

Kallie shrugged. “Thanks to you, I now have to worry about my safety too. He told me he’d seen my license plate. How do you think that makes me feel?”

Hunter’s jaw set. “He threatened you?”

“It doesn’t matter. It is what it is and I’m just trying my best to move on.”

Hunter smiled ruefully. “Clearly.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s only been a few days and you’re already going on dates.”

Kallie’s eyes narrowed. “I haven’t been out on any dates, Hunter.”

“Don’t lie to me, Kallie. I know you’re starting to see someone. And I can promise you that he won’t care for you nearly as much as I do.”

She was aghast. “You’ve been following me?”

“I keep an eye on you, Kallie.”

“That is insane, Hunter. I want you to leave me alone. Stop following me.”

He came even closer, now. “It’s not insane to watch out for you. Terrence is dangerous, and I needed to be sure—“

She laughed. “That isn’t why you had me followed. You’re keeping an eye on me because you’re a control freak.”

They stared at one another for a long moment and then Hunter started to smile.

His smile was disarming, and Kallie found herself wanting to break down. It would be so easy to give in, to let him take her in his strong, protective arms—to walk with him into the house and maybe even go to her room with him.

But Riley was napping and needed to be watched, and besides—nothing had changed. He was charming, he was hot, they had so much chemistry together, but none of that changed the basic facts.

“I care about you,” he said. “And I’m sorry I didn’t come right out and explain to you about Scarlett. She’s—“

“It’s not about her,” Kallie cried, her voice rising with the tension she felt.

“What is it about, then?” he asked.

“I need to know that you’ll stop playing these games,” she said. “No more rules and regulations—no more walls.”

“It’s not a game,” he told her. “It’s how I deal with my life.” His dark eyes pleaded with her to understand. “Don’t you think I’d change it if I could? Do you think this is fun for me?”

“No.” She looked down. “I know that it’s not fun for you. But I can’t become a casualty of your fears and your need to control everything. I want to come first.”

“Kallie.” He touched her chin, lifting it so that her eyes met his.

And then he was kissing her, and the spark was so undeniable, she did give in.

She let his soft, hot lips press into hers, and then his tongue.

She wanted him more than ever.

“No!” she screamed, breaking away, pushing him backwards.

He was stunned. “What? What’s wrong?”

Tears came to her eyes. “Hunter, tell me now. Will you let me in? Will you just be with me, really be with me—no strings attached?”

He stared at her, his mouth open. “Please, don’t ask me to do that. If I could be normal—“

“You can,” she yelled.

He started to back away. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I just…I just can’t do that.”

And then he turned and went to his motorcycle, and a moment later, he was gone again.

***

By the time everyone returned home, it was evening. Laughter echoed through the house as Ray and Erica continued to dominate the conversation with stories from their shared past.

In the living room, Kallie brought out a few bottles of wine and then they were drinking again.

Soon, the bottles were empty and Kallie was bringing more. Ray and Erica weren’t slowing down.

“Barkeep, we demand more booze!” Ray cried out, his cheeks aflame. Erica was sidled up next to him on the couch and he had his arm around her.

“Hear, hear!” Erica said. “We want more!”

Kallie saw that they were absolutely trashed. She looked at Red for a signal. He smiled and shrugged, as if to say—what can I do? Give the people what they want.

So Kallie went back to the wine rack and retrieved another bottle.

This was soon gone as well.

Nicole got up and told everyone she was tired and needed to go to bed. Às she was going, Kallie asked her if she thought they’d had too much to drink.

Nicole looked positively exhausted. With heavy-lidded eyes, she nodded.

“They’re adults. They’ll pay for it tomorrow morning, I suspect.”

“I just hope they don’t get sick in the night. I’d be the one to clean up after them.”

Nicole laughed. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’m sure they’ll be going to bed soon enough. We’ve all had a long day.”

“Okay. Well, good night.”

“Goodnight,” Nicole said, and walked slowly upstairs.

Kallie returned to the party that was raging in the other room. Red was sitting, watching his parents talk and laugh and drink. His expression was bemused, but beneath that was a watchfulness that Kallie found disconcerting.

It was as if he’d only pretended to party, when in reality he was stone cold sober.

“That bottle’s getting light, Kallie,” Red told her. “Let’s bring out another.”

She gave him a concerned look. “Are you sure?”

“Of course he’s sure—he’s a goddamn Jameson, isn’t he?” Ray yelled, laughing once more.

Erica joined in.

Kallie brought more wine.

Eventually, she was too tired to continue serving them, and she asked Red if it was all right for her to also go to bed now.

“Yes, yes. I’ll take care of these two,” Red replied.

“We can take care of ourselves,” Erica corrected him. “We’re not children.”

“Speak for yourself,” Ray said. He guzzled more wine. “Damn, this stuff is good.”

“You’ve just about drunk me out of house and home,” Red said.

“It would take the U.S. Navy on Fleet Week to drink you out of house and home,”

Ray replied.

Kallie bid them good night and walked slowly to her room. She got out of her clothes and pulled on a pair of comfortable shorts, a t-shirt, and then crawled into bed.

She sighed, feeling some of the day’s tension run out of her body.

Imagine if
he
was here with me, she thought. She could imagine Hunter pulling her close to him, hugging her from behind, his arms wrapped around her like a cocoon.

A pang of loss hit her in the midsection as she realized she’d never feel him that way again.

Kallie drifted off into an uneasy sleep, and her dreams were dark and muddled, but full of angry faces and loud voices.

And then something woke her.

She snapped awake in the darkness, knowing she’d heard something.

Someone had screamed. Yes, someone had screamed, and in her dream it had been a woman at the deli counter of a supermarket. Kallie had been ordering pounds and pounds of Boar’s Head ham, and the woman taking her order had let out a shriek or rage as she’d weighed the ham on the scale.

Now that she was awake, heart pounding thickly in her chest, Kallie knew that scream had definitely infiltrated her dreams, and had taken place in real life.

Slowly she slid out of bed.

There was another noise, and this time it was unmistakably the sound of glass shattering.

Kallie let out a cry herself—put her hand to her mouth.

For some reason, the first thing she thought was that Terrence was breaking into the house to kill her.

Next she heard the pounding of feet running down the hallway, and then Red’s voice. He was talking loudly, and someone was responding.

Kallie opened the door to her room and stepped uncertainly into the hallway. “Is everything okay?” she said.

Nobody answered.

The voices were less frantic now. Kallie started to walk toward them, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Whatever had happened, it came from the guest room where Red’s father was staying.

Inside, Red was talking with his father, who was wearing an old, tattered pair of white boxers and nothing else. His chest was pale and hairy. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking rather casual. But he had a large red scratch running down the side of his face.

He looked at Kallie and smiled somewhat balefully.

Red was staring out the window, which was completely shattered to pieces. And next to it, the other window was open and the screen had been knocked off. “She ran out?” Red said, finally looking back at his father.

Ray shrugged. “Threw the alarm clock through the window, then opened t’other one and just scrambled out of it.”

“But first, she did that to you,” Red said, pointing to the scratch on his father’s face.

Ray nodded. “You know how Erica can be when she’s in one of her moods.”

“What did you say to her?”

“I didn’t say anything. Does anyone really need to say anything?” He scoffed.

“I’m getting my stuff and driving back to the farm. I don’t need this…”

“Dad—“

“No,” Ray said, standing up and slowly walking to the foot of the bed, where he began picking up his old clothes and getting dressed.

“Should I call the police?” Kallie asked, hugging herself as a cold gust of wind blew inside from the open windows.

“No,” Red told her. “I’m going to call the security detail at the front gate.” He jogged out of the room and past her.

Ray continued changing. He put on his jeans, flannel shirt, and then stepped into his boots. Finally, he looked up at Kallie with a strange smile. “We always had that spark,” he said. “It was always bad, too. Really bad. Like how some people keep smoking cigarettes when they’ve got throat cancer. I saw a guy once smoking through his tracheotomy tube when I was an orderly at a hospital.”

Kallie made a face. “That’s disgusting.”

Ray nodded. “That kind of love is disgusting. My Uncle Troy used to drink a fifth of vodka every day, even after the doctors told him he wouldn’t see forty-five because his liver was going.”

“That’s not love, it’s addiction,” Kallie replied.

“And what’s the difference?” Ray asked her.

She didn’t say anything.

“Exactly.” He reached down and grabbed his duffel bag. “Time for me to go.”

Kallie followed Ray Jameson as he walked through the house until he reached the front door, where Red was waiting. Red turned to them. “Security is scouring the grounds now. They’ll find her.”

“Good. But I can’t say I want to be around when she’s caught,” Ray told him.

“I’m heading out.”

Red nodded. “It’s late. You think you can make that long of a drive at this time of night?”

“I’ll probably be up for two days straight after what just happened.” He shook his head. “What were you thinking, inviting both of us here at the same time? Are you crazy?”

Red just shrugged. “I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“No, I guess not.” His father dropped his bag and quickly hugged Red. “But that’s okay. I forgive you.”

Red hugged him back, a bit awkwardly. After they were done, Ray picked up his duffel bag and started out the front door. Before leaving, he turned around. “When Erica comes back, tell her I said that I’m sorry about everything.”

And then he left.

Kallie watched him get into his truck and drive away.

“What happened?” she said, shaking her head in amazement.

“The unavoidable happened.” Red was smiling grimly.

“You knew this was coming, didn’t you?” Kallie asked him.

“When you throw a match into a tank of gasoline, I guess you can pretty much assume there will be one hell of an explosion,” he admitted.

“But what about Erica? Is she okay?”

“I’m sure she is,” Red replied.

Kallie thought he looked slightly less sure of himself than he had a moment before.

They waited twenty long minutes, and Nicole eventually came downstairs holding the baby. Riley was crying, her sleep having been disturbed. Nicole looked baggy-eyed and furious. “I can’t have this kind of instability in my house,” she said, looking at Red.

“It’s almost over.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Just wait and see,” he told her, his eyes determined.

“Wait for what, exactly?”

Not a minute later, the security detail drove up in their black SUV. The car parked and then the head security guard got out and made his way to the front door.

“Red, we found your mother about a mile and half South of here, right around the edge of the woods and the pond. She was cold and her feet and hands were a bit scratched up, but physically she appears fine.”

“Can I talk to her?”

The guard looked doubtful. “Mentally, she appears very erratic. She’s not making much sense. Do you know if she’s taking any prescription medication?”